Considerable difficulty exists in the separation and removal of individual note paper sheets from a stack even though they are free and unattached to each other. This is due to the tightly packed or pressed condition of the stack and the cohesion which exists between adjacent sheets. The removal of a single sheet at the first try is usually unsuccessful and the effort results in the separation of a multiplicity of sheets. This is not only troublesome and time consuming but often results in soiling sheets from handling.
This invention obviates the above difficulty and provides a single and effective device for the separation and removal of individual note paper sheets from a stack of them. This is achieved without the use of moving parts and in such an easy way that it can be done by anyone. A tray is employed which is downwardly slanted and on which rests a stack of note paper sheets. The bottom edge of the stack abuts an outwardly flared wall and at the upper edge is a wall which is slightly spaced from the adjacent edge of the stack. The bottom of the tray on which the paper stack lays is coplanar except for an intermediate depression of appreciable depth so that pressure on top of the stack by a finger or thumb will crowd the central portion of the stack into the depression, bending it in such manner as to flex the opposite ends of the stack upwardly. In so doing the edges of the sheets automatically separate slightly from each other. While the stack is so depressed or bent, the top sheet can be readily peeled from the stack by a finger or thumb. Of course, release of pressure on the stack causes it to flatten out and assume its normal condition.